Vimba vimba

Vimba vimba, called also the vimba bream,^[3] vimba,^[3] zanthe,^[3] or zarte,^[1] is a species of ray-finned fish belonging to the family Leuciscidae, the daces, Eurasian minnows and related species. This species is found in Europe and Western Asia where it largely lives in brackish water but makes an annual migration up-river each year to breed.

Vimba vimba
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Cypriniformes
Family:	Leuciscidae
Subfamily:	Leuciscinae
Genus:	Vimba
Species:	V. vimba
Binomial name
Vimba vimba (Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms[2]
Cyprinus vimba Linnaeus, 1758 Abramis vimba (Linnaeus 1758) Cyprinus zerta Leske, 1774 Cyprinus vimpa Strøm, 1784 Cyprinus serta Shaw, 1804 Cyprinus carinatus Pallas, 1814 Abramis frivaldszkyi Heckel, 1843 Leuciscus parvulus Valenciennes, 1844 Abramis elongatus Valenciennes, 1844 Abramis nordmannii Dybowski, 1862: Abramis elongatus var. asianus Steindachner, 1897 Vimba vimba bergi Velikokhatko, 1940

Taxonomy

Vimba vimba was first formally described as Cyprinus vimba is the 10th edition of Systema Naturae published in 1758 by Carl Linnaeus with its type locality given as the "Lakes of Sweden".^[2] This species is now classified in the genus Vimba which was proposed as a genus by the Austrian zoologist Leopold Fitzinger in 1873, with this species being the type species by absolute tautonymy, and is classified within the subfamily Leuciscinae in the Family Leuciscidae.^[4]

Etymology

Vimba vimba is the type species of the genus Vimba, a name which Fitzinger used tautonymously for this species and that is thought to be derived from the Swedish vernacular name vimma for this fish.^[5]

Description

Vimba vimba was at one time classified as a bream as it also has a long anal fin, but has now been placed in a different genus. Its body is not as deep as that of the bream. It also resembles the asp but its mouth is small and behind the snout whereas the asp has a large mouth with the lower jaw protruding. This species grows to about 25 to 45 centimetres (9.8 to 17.7 in) with a weight of up to 2 kilograms (4.4 lb). The scales are small and there are about sixty of them along the lateral line. This fish is a deep bluish-green on the dorsal surface and silvery along the flanks. The eyes are yellow and the pectoral and pelvic fins have reddish-yellow bases. The colouring becomes more vivid in the breeding season and males may have the operculum, base of the fins and the belly turn orange.^[6]

The vimba bream has a long anal fin

Vimba bream has a typical head form similar to the nase

Distribution and habitat

Vimba vimba Is found in Europe and Western Asia in the drainage basins of the North Sea, Baltic Sea, Black Sea, Sea of Marmara, Aegean Sea and Caspian Sea. In the North Sea drainage it is native to rivers between the Elbe and Ems, it has been introduced into the Rhine. In the Baltic Sea it is absent from Denmark, northern Sweden and northern Finland. In the Black Sea it has been extirpated from Crimea and is not found between the Melet River in Ordu Province, Turkey and southern Georgia. In Anatolia it also occurs in rivers draining into the Aegean and Turkish Mediterranean. It has also been introduced into the lower Volga. This species is found in the brackish waters of estuaries as well as in the lower and middle reaches of rivers and in some larger subalpine lakes. A portion of the population is non-migratory and is permanently resident in rivers.^[1]

Behaviour

Vimba vimba move in small shoals along the sea coast, feeding on invertebrates which they pick from the seabed, and the eggs of other fish. They leave the sea in May or June, swimming upriver to spawn in fast-moving tributaries with stony or gravelly bases and little vegetation. The males prepares several areas of riverbed on which the females deposit batches of eggs.^[6]